It is difficult to imagine today that Luton was once the world centre of the Hat Industry, but for centuries that is exactly what it was. There was hardly a street that did not have a hat makers or someone connected to the hat trade in it. There was Olney's who manufactured straw Boaters, Lane's, who were the block makers. Brightman's in Bute Street and Snoxell's in Frederick Street. A & C Simpson of Guildford Street. Some still survive but one after another many closed as the town that had survived embargoes, and even Napoleon's blockades, changed into a university town. Age old traditions taught to children before they could run, disappeared too. Legend tells that there were more hat businesses in Luton than days of the year. Here for the first time world renowned author Alex Askaroff brings Luton's history back to life with actual stories from hat makers and much more. Come on a journey and discover why some people really were as 'mad as a hatter'.

This book is an introduction and guide to Luton's hatting industry and to the distinctive and varied character of its buildings.

In the past, Luton was a market town and, for many years, was also a centre for the brewing industry. In the 19th century it became famous for hat making, and more recently it has grown into a thriving industrial centre. During the Second World War it played an important part in the manufacture of army vehicles, and children bound for school had to dodge the Churchill tanks on their way to various theatres of conflict. Nowadays, Luton Airport is the gateway for all types of traveller and the town is well known for its famous football team. Luton has always provided visitors with a warm welcome and many have stayed and made the town their home. Local industry offered employment opportunities in the early 20th century and many had cause to be grateful for its relative prosperity during the Great Depression. Following the Second World War, immigrants from the Indian subcontinent and from the West Indies brought with them colourful new cultures that are celebrated in the annual Carnival. This fascinating and illustrated account of Luton's past will inform and delight anyone who lives in the town and inspire those who grew up here.

Although perhaps best known today as the home of Vauxhall Motors, Luton's industrial roots run much deeper. Long before it became associated with motor cars, Luton was the centre of ladies' hat production in this country - a success founded upon the earlier regional industry of straw-plaiting. Many surrounding towns and villages fed into the industry and helped to make the region globally renowned. At its peak in the 1930s, the region was producing as many as 70 million hats in a single year; however, it entered a rapid decline following the Second World War from which it never recovered. This has left Luton, Dunstable and a number of other local towns with a challenging inheritance of neglected and decaying fragments of a once vital industry. This book is intended to be an introduction and guide to the area's historical depth and to its distinctive and varied character, seeking to explain the development of the region as the centre of the hatting industry in the south and exploring the lives of the people working there during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The historic links between the surviving building stock and the hatting industry are assessed and the book highlights the significance of the surviving fabric and the potential of the historic environment within future conservation and regeneration plans.